The United States Air Force maintains a complex network of installations designed to project air power and support global operations. There are many measurements by which to compare the bases that form the global network, but one of the simplest and most illustrative is the number of aircraft stationed at each one.

U.S. Air Force Col. Nathan Malafa, left, outgoing U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron commander, and Lt. Col. Alexander Prevendar, incoming USAFADS “Thunderbirds” commander, smile during a change of command ceremony at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Dec. 5, 2025. (Yendi Borjas/U.S. Air Force)

Blog posts represent the views of CFR fellows and staff and not those of CFR, which takes no institutional positions. The origins of the USAF lie in a decision made just four years after the Wright Brothers conducted the world’s first airplane flight at ...

Edwards AFB boasts the longest runway on any military airfield under the ownership of the United States Department of Defense (DOD). The base served as the primary landing site for early Space Shuttle missions (including the first one) and a backup site for later missions before the landing strip at Kennedy Space Center.

Deterrence is emerging as a theme for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, but questions remain about the administration’s ability to deliver and maintain the nation’s nuclear deterrent. At the Air Force Summit on March 19, Hegseth commented on the ...

It has been nearly six years since the United States Space Force was established, when President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020 into law. The sixth and newest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces was also the ...